Accession Number:

AD0625439

Title:

ATMOSPHERIC RADIOACTIVITY IN ANTARCTICA 1956-1963.

Descriptive Note:

Final rept.,

Corporate Author:

NAVAL RESEARCH LAB WASHINGTON D C

Personal Author(s):

• Lockhart,L. B. ,Jr.
• Patterson,R. L. ,Jr.
• Saunders,A. W. ,Jr.

Report Date:

1965-11-03

Pagination or Media Count:

21.0

Abstract:

Continuous measurements of the radioactive aerosol content of the surface air in Antarctica have been made since 1956, first at Little America and later at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Both the radioactivity due to bomb-produced fission products and to the naturally occurring radionuclides of the radon and thoron series were measured in daily collections composite samples covering three-month periods were subjected to radiochemical analysis for such long-lived radionuclides as Sr90, Cs137, Ce144, Pm147, and Pb210. The observed natural radioactivity was lower in Antarctica than at any other geographical location, as might be expected from the absence of any quantity of exposed land surface in the vicinity. The fission-product concentrations, however, were equal to or greater than those observed in the southernmost parts of South America. Well-defined seasonal variations in airborne radioactivity were noted, with maxima in the summer. Author

Descriptors:

• *ANTARCTIC REGIONS
• RADIOACTIVITY
• FALLOUT
• FISSION PRODUCTS
• RADON
• DECAY
• RADIOACTIVE DECAY
• AEROSOLS

Subject Categories:

• Atmospheric Physics
• Radioactivity, Radioactive Wastes and Fission Products

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE